


The Quiet Night

by Riastarstruck



Series: Rias 2016 Bingo Challenge works [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Alexandria Safe-Zone, Daryl holds Judith, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Moonlight, Pre-Slash, Rickyl Writers' Group Bingo 2016, Tiny bit of Angst, musings, playful biting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2018-06-04 10:47:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6654931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riastarstruck/pseuds/Riastarstruck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rick wanders the house at night and stumbles on a tender moment between Daryl and Judith.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Quiet Night

**Author's Note:**

> So this fluffy baby ticks off two bingo squares for me: Moonlight and Playful biting.  
> I'm fairly sure playful biting was meant to be one of my kink squares but... oops, whatever, domestic fluff instead. 
> 
> This turned into mostly character study and an excuse to have Daryl hold Judith. That's pretty much it.
> 
> This is unbeta'd and not really read-over that much so sorry for any mistakes, they are entirely my own.  
> Enjoy!

The night is quiet now in a way it never was before the world ended. He'd never noticed it back then. He had seen the quiet of the night as a right, too many noise complaints dealt with in uniform to see it as anything else.

He'd often sat up at night after Lori and Carl had gone to bed. He’d sit in the sleeping house and watch the tv, down so quiet it was almost just flashing images, a low white-noise soundtrack he could sink right into. Stretched out on the couch and letting the images flash in front of his eyes had been one of the simplest pleasures in his life.

It had never been about watching the end of the movie or seeing the last catch of the repeated match. It was about the quiet of the night, a time outside time, when the dark closed in and he would know, just for a short while, that he and his family were safe from the outside world and all the things he saw on the job.

Now the night was more dangerous than the day and quiet was enforced for safety. Breaking the quiet, revealing yourself, was likely to get you killed.

Silence was a weapon now, an alarm against the shuffle-thump of the walkers.

It hadn’t ever been true silence before, there had always been background noises: cars, bird, strays and other people, but now with them gone nature had taken over, a symphony which at times seemed deafening, and under that was the sound of the dead.

Rick didn't sleep as much as he used to, he hadn't slept much before the world ended but he slept even less now.

When they were travelling, cast adrift and away from any safe place and so deep in the heart of enemy territory, it was an asset. It was better to have as many people rotate through watch as possible. It helped to minimize exhaustion, at least a little. One person can't spot everything, and it didn't hurt to have another ear pricked in the dark.

He knew the others dealt with the night in their own ways. Maggie and Glenn slept close together as much as possible, Carl kept tokens of the past close, within touching distance like some kind of ward against the dark. Abe checked his weapons three times a night, woke without preamble and touched the palm of his hand against each weapon within reach before rolling back over and going to sleep.

Daryl was the most like Rick. He slept little but deeply, when he awoke after a couple of hours he was ready for anything, alert and aware of his surroundings in a way which made Rick relax a little against whatever surface he was sleeping on.

They’d spent more nights than Rick could count keeping each other company through watch.

At the prison they'd just spend the hours together, sometimes some menial task a flimsy reason to stay together, sometimes just so they weren't alone.

 

It was different in Alexandria. Here they had shuffled into their roles from before all too easily. He missed their nights together, missed sitting in silence in the dark, shoulders pressed together and the warmth of family along his side. A warm, physical reminder that they were okay.

Houses encourage separation. It had taken them weeks but slowly they each claimed their spaces, moving from the safety of the group to the luxury of privacy.

While the wild man he had become shouted about tactical advantage and strength in numbers the man he used to be uncurled, unfurling like a plant. He enjoyed the privacy, the return to normalcy, even as it made his skin crawl a little to be so unguarded.

 

Rick rolled over on the bed, staring at the square of night sky visible from his prone position. It hadn’t taken him long to get back into the habit of sleeping on a bed. He kind of wished it had, that the whole transition back to a civilised world had been harder.

Sitting up, he ran a hand over his face, his fingertips rubbing at the rough scrape of stubble across his jaw. He was tired, a bone deep tiredness which he hated. It warred with the restlessness which gnawed at him, pushing him to _do to protect_.

He put his boots on without thinking, slipping them on easily and doing their laces up securely without even casting a glance down. He needed these habits, the ones that kept him safe. His hand paused over his gun-belt and he purposely moved his hand away.

Wandering into the hall he looked towards the open door of Judiths room. She’d been teething, distressed and unhappy for the last few days. Her young face scrunched up in distress he struggled to relieve. He wished he could fix it, wished it was just another monster he could slay to keep her safe and happy, but he knew this was just something they had to move through. She took it better then Carl had when he was her age. He’d been a loud child, prone to crying fits which exhausted the new parents.

It was easier to think fondly of those times now, he could think of his time with Lori with fondness, a little sadness but not the overwhelming grief and betrayal which had consumed him. She was a wound that would never heal, a loss he would never get over, but as time passed it became easier.

Rick’s heart seized when he saw Judiths crib empty. A panic rose in his throat and for a moment he was frozen where he stood. Blood roared in his ears and it took him a moment to hear the soft noises of his daughter downstairs. Pained, soft noises but not distressed.

Steeling himself, Rick moved quietly down the hall and stairs, keeping to the shadows out of habit more than anything. He knew logically one of the family had her but that didn’t dampen the paternal panic of _not knowing_.

Following the faint sounds of his daughter he slowed his pace when he made it to the front door and heard the soft treads of heavy boots moving in a slow circle and the low rumble of Daryls voice under Judiths fussing.

Rick positioned himself at the partially open door, letting himself disappear into the shadows. Daryl was a familiar shape in the late night shadows. The moonlight brushed his exposed arms and painted Judith silver.

They were quite the pair; Judith was pale, innocent beauty in a soft pink dress. Daryl was in his usual outfit, dark and worn, his hair in his face and the roped muscles of his arms exposed. He had a knife on his hip and Rick knew there would be another in his boot. Rick smiled at the strange pair on the porch.

“Come on, pretty lady. You don’t wanna wake your daddy do you?” Daryl bounced Judith in his arms, her body held close to his broad chest as she warred between complaining about her teeth and enjoying the attention.

Daryl’s attention was entirely taken up by her, his face soft and gentle, fixed on her as he cradled her gently in his large hands. “Merle said he gave me whiskey when I was like this,” Daryl murmured to her, his voice a low rumble in the dark, “I don’t think that’s what you’re meant to do though.”

Rick felt his heart lurch a little in his chest and he let the doorjamb take some more of his weight. It was easy to forget about people. Their marks were carved in jagged letters on the flesh of his heart, their names ached when he thought about them. A long list of painful names which wept bloody and fresh whenever they were inspected, a list longer and more painful than the one on Alexandria’s walls.

Merle was one of the less painful ones, but he was still there. He represented in Ricks mind the bad decisions he’d made along the way. The events surrounding his death hurt more than the actual event. It was easy to forget that Merle had been Daryl’s brother, that Daryl had loved him.

It was some kind of snobbery left over from before perhaps, the way he saw the bad in Merle. He saw the scars on Daryls back and the way he moved away from loud noises and sudden anger and it was easier to hate Merle for not protecting him better, for making him like that. To hear the slurs and the vulgarities and vitriol that had slipped so easily off Merles tongue and forget there could have been more to him.

Some part of him had loved Daryl, he’d proved that in the end, and Daryl had loved him back. It came down to a simple truth: they were brothers and had cared for each other.

Looking at Daryl now, listening to him talk, Rick wondered if there was even more there than he’d imagined. He wondered what it would have been like growing up in that house, a dead mom, an abusive dad and little Merle, not much older than a kid looking after his baby brother. Rubbing his aching gums with his daddy’s whiskey to stop him crying. Raising a kid that grew up smart and skilled. _Good_ in a way which took Rick by surprise sometimes, even after all this time.

Judith let out a loud, bubbly laugh. Her face scrunched up as she laughed. Daryl laughed along with her, an exhalation of air as he bounced her gently, shaking his head at her.

“Come on girly, you gotta be quiet.” Rick watched as he moved his face close, nuzzling into her soft cheek and making her giggle. It looked instinctive, like he hadn’t even thought about doing it. Rick felt his cheeks ache as he smiled at the pair, Judiths small hand grabbed at Daryls facial hair and he let her, his eyes crinkling as he looked at her.

Sometimes Daryl looked at Judith like she was something remarkable, strange and foreign, something too fragile and too beautiful. Rick felt some paternal pride, his beautiful girl should be adored. If he could, he would give her everything, she deserved a nice safe world, deserved to grow up loved and safe.

Rick watched as Daryl wrapped his lips around his teeth and bit playfully at her hands. Judith squawked a laugh, her mouth open in a wide grin as Daryl mimed nibbling at her small digits. Resting his head against the wooden frame Ricks' heart swelled in his chest and his breath grew tight at the bright, wonderful look on his daughter's face and the tender smile on Daryls lips, his eyes crinkling a little at the corners. The smile seemed a little foreign on his face, unpractised and strangely innocent.

He was so achingly careful with her, Rick observed, taking in the way he held her like spun glass. His big hands which were capable of such violence, of such destructive power and fine, deadly precision cradled Ricks daughter like she could shatter.

“You’re good with her.” Ricks voice seemed loud in the stillness. Daryl jerked his attention to Rick as he pulled Judith closer as though to protect her against any threat the unexpected intrusion could pose.

He relaxed when he saw Rick, ducking his head as though embarrassed.

“You want her?” He shifted her in his arms as though to pass her to him. Rick shook his head, not moving from his slouched positon.

“Keep her, she’s happy.” And she was. Her small hands played with the wild strands of Daryls hair, grasping at them and looking at him adoringly. Daryl bobbed his head in a nod but suddenly seemed wary of her in his arms.

Rick regretted the intrusion, regretted ruining their moment. Judith laughed brightly when he pulled a lock of Daryls hair, tugging it towards her and pulling Daryls head along with it. Daryls attention drifted back to her, his eyes going soft and fun as he released her hold gently, his large fingers enclosing her hand entirely.

When he’d coaxed her hand away he kept it in his, mouthing another playful bite at her hands as she laughed before he held it against his chest.

Daryl saw when it looked like she was going to start fussing and he started moving, probably without realising it. He bobbed and weaved, a slow, private dance which rocked the baby in his arms just enough.

“You don’t hold her much.” Rick said. Daryl glanced at him, one shoulder lifting and falling in a shrug.

“The fuck I know about babies?” They’d need to start watching their language around her soon, but in the heavy late hour, in the shadows and moonlit highlights it didn’t seem important.  

“You seem to be doing alright.” He shifted his gaze away from the strong line of Daryl’s form gilded in moonlight and towards his daughter who was growing sleepy, her head falling forward to rest on the broad width of Daryls shoulder.

Daryl adjusted his hold, cradling her to him and shifting her weight. Rick smiled fondly at the pair and started to moved away from the door towards them. Daryl moved as though to pass her to him but Rick shook his head, simply leaning back against the porch railing to be closer to them.

After a moment hesitation Daryl joined him, sitting at his side, a warm press of familiar warmth against the still night. Rick leant his weight against him, and allowed Daryl to leant against him too, as they bowed their heads and watched Judith in Daryls arms. Her face loose with sleep and finally calm.

In the distance there was the rustle of trees, the groan of wood and the eternal shuffle-thump of the walkers beyond the walls. In the still night noise travelled, every noise seemed amplified. With Daryl at his side it seemed less dangerous somehow, like the white-noise of a tv down low.

He looked up from his daughter to see Daryl looking at him, the same soft look in his eyes. Rick smiled at him, taking in the crinkles at the corner of his eyes, the way his eyes looked calm and his shoulders were relaxed as he cradled the little girl against his chest.

Daryl ducked his head, looking back at Judith and Rick pressed closer against his side. Familiar, welcomed. A reminder that they weren’t alone in the dangerous dark of the night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!


End file.
